France's national fund for monuments paid a Swiss artist to spice up the medieval French castle of Carcassonne to "mark its 20 years as a UNESCO World Heritage site."

It didn't go over very well.

The mediaeval French castle of Carcassonne has been vandalised by "artist" Félice Varini

Local people objected to the scheme and yet had to pay for it nonetheless. A local shopkeeper said “It’s ignoble. And it’s expensive. We do not have the budget to maintain/repair the castle" pic.twitter.com/XHEAp7F7vN

Locals and tourists alike were outraged, Mercury News reported late last month:

The medieval citadel of Carcassonne has been given a vertiginous new look to mark its 20 years as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Swiss artist Félice Varini, known for his trippy perspective-altering designs on buildings and other urban spaces, oversaw the installation at the French walled city. The concentric circles are on lightweight aluminum attached to the walls of Cité de Carcassonne. They will be removed in September and are intended not to cause any damage to the ancient stones.

The creation has not won universal acclaim. The newspaper Le Parisien said an appalled pair of Pennsylvania tourists, believing the paint job to be permanent, were reduced to repeating “Oh my God. Oh my God.”

A shopkeeper was more eloquent: “It’s ignoble. And it’s expensive. Already we do not have the budgets to maintain or repair the citadel.”

Images of the "art" went viral after being shared on Twitter by a user named "ArchitecturalRevival" who contrasts modern art with that of our past.

"Progress"

There is something absurd and revolting in interpreting as a form of progress the destruction of beauty and tradition. pic.twitter.com/CK2ICoGTmj